Residents of Ardnamoyle Park have told the Journal of their fears after a gang of youths caused havoc in the area on St Patrick’s night.

One long-term resident, who did not wish to be named, said a “free for all” developed on Monday night with drunken young teenagers causing damage to cars, fighting and urinating in people’s gardens.

The resident also said the situation has been an ongoing one for some years, but tends to get worse when public or school holidays, such as St Patrick’s Day come around.

“I have had around £1,000 of damage caused to my car. I’ve had wing mirrors kicked off, windows smashed and ‘f--k off’ scratched into the body work.

“What we saw on Monday night is beyond words. They threw empty beer cans at cars as they passed and this went on for over two hours. The police do come into the area and try to resolve it but these youngsters have no respect for anyone or anything.

“This is actually worse than the riots that took place here in the 70s and 80s.

“Even the rioters would have stopped and let a woman wheeling a pram past, now they’d probably beat the woman up. Where are their parents? What are they playing at?”, said the resident.

“This has been a regular occurrence for about five years now but you can tell it’s always going to get worse over holiday weekends,” they continued.

Another resident , who also did not wish to be identified said she feared someone would be killed after witnessing groups of youths savagely beat other teens whilst they lay on the ground. And, after the disturbance died down on St Patrick’s night residents said they when then plagued with joyriders speeding through the area until the small hours of Tuesday morning.

SDLP Councillor in the area, Brian Tierney condemned the behaviour of the young people involved. He said residents contacted him to say that a group of around 50 teenagers had gathered in the area, aged between 14-18.

“The gang was causing a lot of concern for residents in the area. Most of them had quite clearly been drinking and were causing great disturbance.

“I spoke with the PSNI who were on the scene very quickly and they advised me they would patrol the area for the remainder of the night. I thank them for the efficiency with which they dealt with the situation.”